“It ... could be.” My cheeks are turning red. I just know it. “Either way, you should’ve led with the fact that she’s a harmless old lady.”
“I don’t know about harmless. She’s persistent. I’m about to bring you in just to get her off my back.”
I raise an eyebrow. “You think I’d get her off your back?”
“Oh, yeah. You always do.”
I blink. Do I do that? I’ve never intentionally tried to, but I’ve always made sure his girlfriends know I’m his best friend.
They always disappeared after that.
Shit.That’s exactly what I’ve done.
“Earth to Maisie,” Nate says, waving a hand in front of my face.
“Wh-what?” I ask. The gears in my mind are still grinding. I should apologize for ... being close to him? I’m not sure what.
But I know I’ve been hiding from it. I don’t like thinking about Nate with other women. I never have. Up until this trip, I always explained it away. I would say that I didn’t want us to lose time together, or that who he was dating wasn’t right for him.
And those things were sometimes true. But now I know that I’ve always seen Nate as ...mine.
Even when he isn’t.
Fuck.
“You’re in the ocean,” he says.
Suddenly, my surroundings come rushing back. I’m waist-deep in water. Just like that.
“Oh.” I blink. “I guess I am.”
“Was my distraction that good?”
“You sent me right into my own head.” I’m not sure I’m fully out of it. “Do I really scare women away from you?”
“That was a joke. Don’t worry about it.”
“Do I?” I ask again.
He sighs. “It’s not a huge deal?—”
“Nate.” I say it urgently. “I never meant to.”
“And you don’t. Not really. But most of them want me to cut down on time with you and make more for them.” He shrugs. “It was never an option for me.”
I freeze. They wanted the same thing Rob did.
And Nate choseme.
“I—”
“Maisie,” he says. “You wanted to get in here and practice more. Why are we talking about my exes right now? You’re in the ocean. And you’re mostly okay.”
“Right. Sorry.”
“I’ll know to distract you with another high schooler I caught smoking weed next time.”
I roll my eyes, but my lips tug upward. “Those stories are boring.”
